New dies

So I bought some new dies! After a few weeks of not going anywhere or buying anything I thought perhaps I'd saved a few pounds so I'd treat myself to some little foliage dies I'd seen. Then I saw some cute little flower dies so I bought them too. As you do. 

I thought they'd be perfect for Mrs A's Butterfly challenge for their first outing. 

I did a little stencilled background and used a strip of paper down one side. Then cut and coloured the leaves flowers and butterflies with Pro Markers. The butterflies are from a different die set. I  added a tiny gem in the centre of each flower and drew on the butterfly antennae. 

I like it and can't wait to go and cut out some more flowers, it's a big set with lots of options for layering and using in different ways. They are perfect for adding finishing touches to cards and, of course, using up snippets.  The sets are both Tattered Lace - Leaf Branches and Flower Shop Collection.

So I'm in time to join in with 

I've used blue, light orange and yellow and a butterfly and my choice which is die cutting. 

I can also hop over to Pixie's Snippets Playground though I may sit in the shade and paddle in the duck pond rather than running around while it's so hot. All the die cuts are made from snippets, of course.

After my trouble with loading photos onto here last week, I tried again in the week. Did exactly the same as I always do (crop and resize) and they loaded perfectly. So I posted them only to find that the challenge I was entering had just closed. Ho hum. 

Thanks for visiting, enjoy your day. x

Flowers and more flowers.

I've finally got round to sharing some cards that I've made and Blogger looks completely different. I suppose that is old news to everyone else. 

I've had trouble all the way with this, taking photos and then uploading them. Can anyone tell me why I kept getting an 'Error Occured' message when trying to upload? The colours also look a little washed compare to real life. 

Some of you know that flowers are my life, I grow and sell them here and am a little obsessed. I love stamping them too and I have a new flowery stamp set to try out. 

Three for the price of two today. 

Love this! Imagine slightly warmer colours against the orange. I love the colour combination. 

I made the first card by masking a circle and sponging yellow and orange ink in the centre. I stamped and coloured a selection of flowers from a couple of sets. I coloured them using pencils and blended the colour using a blending stump and oil. 

I've never taken the time to learn colouring properly but always wanted to get that blended look. I've been watching some of Gina K's live You Tube sessions and on one she showed how to blend colours really easily. I'm so pleased I managed to do it. 

I stamped the leaves directly onto the card and remembered to stamp the words before gluing down the flowers. I still managed to get one almost covering the words by not paying attention. 

A little Wink of Stella and some gems finished it off. 

I made the second card by stamping the flowers onto patterned paper and cutting out. I fluffed stamping the sentiment so added the circle and really didn't like the look of the card. Having glued it all down and come back the next day, of course it looks fine!

I made a third card though with some more of the same flowers which I'd already cut out. I stencilled a narrow border down the left and then added the flowers. I played around with leaves but it looked better without. It did need something though so I bravely added some ink splatters. I love the look of them but it could so easily ruin a card. I got away with it though!

I'd like to join in with:

I've used new flower, leaf and sentiment stamps

Say it with Flowers

Pixie's Snippets Playground

I've used snippets for the flowers. 

It's been such a trial to get this posted that I have to go and lie down but will be back for blog hopping tomorrow!

Thanks for visiting, enjoy your day. x

Jingle Bells

Hello everyone, 
I was absolutely convinced that I had a little bell stamp, the same as the ones on the sentiment, when I had the idea for this card. I spent so long looking that I lost the will to craft yesterday but regrouped today with a slight adjustment in the plan. 

It turns out I don't have one or I've hidden it really well!
Instead of the bell stamp I used these little die cut bells which are actually flowers but look like bells (bell flowers obviously). They are cut from a drinks can and I had them in a little box of things I'll probably never use but keep anyway. Cutting from can needs a little care and safety precautions due to sharp edges, but the metal is so thin it's easy to cut. 

The wreath is stamped using Card-io stamps  and a little sparkle to the centre of the flowers. 

I'm joining in with 

Thanks for visiting, enjoy your day and stay safe. xxx

Dotty

Hands up if your card always turns out as you'd expect. 
This was going to be CAS with an all white background. I found this dotty paper and all was lost!

I started as I'd planned by sponging green ink onto some scraps, stamping the snowflakes and die cutting the circles. Of course, I could have started with green card. 
The I embossed the circles twice with clear powder and added a tiny bit of glitter before heating a second time. 
Then I fiddled about die cutting the strip to go behind not realising that most of it would be hidden. 

What I've finished up with here is a modern looking card so I popped the sentiment on sideways to continue the theme. 

I learnt this trick on You Tube this week. I'm sure you all do this anyway but it was a revelation for me. Tape a bit of scrap paper onto your shape while you heat emboss to use as a handle. No burnt fingers or finger prints in the embossing!

I'm running in to Pixie's Snippets Playground. I've used snippets for the circles and sentiment and also a piece of patterned paper which I have a stack of and don't use much. Now I have two more snippets of the dotty paper! 
Also checking in with Scrappy Mo's Rudolf Days challenge just at the last minute. Anything goes as long as it's Christmas. 

Stencil from die-cut.

Hello everyone. 

I've finally managed to make a card I'm happy with after a bit of dry spell of feeling uninspired. Now I can't wait to get on and make some more. There is a storm on the way tomorrow so perhaps that is the perfect opportunity to stay in with stamps. 

I took inspiration from 

 I rooted through my box of dies to choose one which would work for this technique. 

 I chose this bubble/circle die which I have not used nearly enough. It's one of those I bought and then forgot why I'd chosen it. I like the fact that you get all the little circles to and I save them though I don't really know why.

Holding down the two pieces of stencil was a little fiddly and there was no where to tape it down. I should have tried to gently stick it. I think I got away with it, though. 

I sponged through it with green, blue and yellow ink. Then I decided to use some of the little circles so I inked them using the same colours and added Glossy Accents. 
When they were dry I popped some into the shapes with a few extra for accents. 

So I've used a die to make the stencil and then used: inking, stamping, more die cutting and glossy accents. Plus using up the scraps which must count for something!

I don't have many stencils but I would like to get some more. I'll also try this again. 

I can't wait to visit the cards from the DT and also the entries which are inspiring but must do some cooking first!
Thanks for visiting, enjoy your day. x

Dreaming of summer

Hello and welcome to a dull damp day in the UK. I'm dreaming of spring and summer but it will be here before too long, I know and we must enjoy the now.

Pink and green is one of my favourite colour combinations and that's what I've used here:

I needed to make a special birthday card so I picked out one of my favourite flower stamps. Two stamps in fact from an Ultimate Crafts set. One is a single flower and one is a spray so you can cut them out to give different looks. 

I stamped in black and then coloured in Picked Raspberry and Mowed Lawn. Putting a little ink on an acrylic block and painting with water. Then cut them all out and arranged round the edge. I'm sure I've done something similar before but hey, if it works!
I also stamped in grey ink around the edge of the green backing to give some extra interest. 

I added some pearls in the flower centres and a tiny bit of Pearl Effects on the other flowers, risky as the card was finished by then but I got away with it! 
I'm pleased with this sweet look and love the colours. 

Having used and old faithful stamp I can join in with Stamping Sensations - Favourite Stamps. 
Also I've used snippets so I can call into Pixie's Snippets Playground and show off.  As always we are encouraged to use up our snippet mountain. I have in fact, organised mine so I can now find what I need and it takes up less room. I threw out a tiny amount but not much of course. :)
The Allsorts Challenge this time is 'Say it with flowers' so that seems appropriate for this card. 

Thanks for visiting, enjoy your day. x

Take a breath

I've been making this card for about three weeks. It's not that it's particularly complicated but just that all the nonsense of Christmas got in the way. 
Having fed people and washed up (with help) for two days straight, I now have time to relax. 
I don't know why we tidy up before Christmas as by the end of the day nothing is in the right place and there are piles of presents and paper everywhere. I've just about got it back to normal now. 

This card started as a one layer card but having stamped. coloured and added the greeting I didn't like the layout so I cut out the flower and leaves and started again as you see here. I like this much more.

I masked off the background and stamped a few leaves. The flower cut out is embossed in silver and coloured with Distress Oxide inks and water, Then, as I usually do,  I raised it up with snips of card on the back instead of foam pads. 

The die cut sentiment is coloured with the same ink and then double embossed with clear powder which gives a smart look, I think. 

The stamps are Pink Fresh from a recent Creative Stamping magazine and the sentiment is Creative Expressions. 

I'm nipping into Pixie's Snippets Playground. Pixie, aka Di, is running a bumper prize draw over the holidays but you have to be in it to win it. Do go over and have a look if you haven't already. Thanks Di for doing this when you might understandably feel like having a well earned rest. 
You need to use at least one snippet of paper, card, wool, ribbon or anything else. I've used several scraps of card here. 

I'm pleased to have another birthday card to add to my stash and now a bit of time to work on a few more. 
Thanks for visiting and hoping you all get time to do what you love this holiday. x